Friday, May 25, 2012

Something different

Today is my birthday and I've decided to do something different. For starters, I blogged at Inside Books We Love blog. http://bwlauthors.blogspot.com Check it out you might be surprised.
So, what is this blog going to be about? Well about me, of course.
To use a phrase Bill Cosby used, 'I started out as a child.' Didn't we all? I was born on May 25th (of course, otherwise it wouldn't be my birthday). I was the fifth child of six. My younger sister was born on May 24th, four years later. But this is about me. So, back to me. I had three older brothers and an older sister. I had a normal childhood. At least I guess it was normal in a family with six children. Since I have nothing to compare it to, I'll say it was normal. I did all the things most kids did. Played baseball, climbed trees - yes, I was a bit of a tomboy, with three older brothers, how could I help it? But, yes, I still played with dolls and dressed up in my cousin's high heels and fancy dresses. My cousin's were considerably older than us, so they gave us their prom dresses and high heels and the heels today, have nothing on these. Yes, they were spikes. I even played bride with my sister and my mother's old lace curtains.
I had normal teenage years, nothing spectacular. I remember going to canteen every Wednesday night - for those of you who don't know, it was a dance- and of course I met my first love there. I think I was 13. Usually the girls danced with girls, except for the slow dances, but there were quite a few guys who also fast danced. I remember the closing song every week was Twilight Time by the Platters. The dance was from 7 to 9:30 and a group of us walked there together. Sometimes the love of my life walked me home and held my hand. What a thrill that was.
High school wasn't anything special. I was an average student, liked some subjects hated others. I remember the first time we got to type on the NEW electric typewriters. Wow, what a difference from the others. Took some practice, too, because if you just touched the key, it was off and running. Before you knew it you could have a whole line of A's. By then, I'd had several other boyfriends. I met my husband when I was 15 at the end of summer. We dated steadily pretty much after that. Although, we did break up once for a few months. I dated a couple other guys during that time, but none steady. Once we got back together, that was it. I knew he was the one.
My parents moved during my junior year and I had to go to a new school. Not fun when you're a junior. Since the new school didn't have some of the subjects I was taking and the classes for a few others were full, they allowed me to go back to my old school. You can't imagine how happy I was about that. The next summer, I decided I didn't want to go to the new school for my senior year. Besides, my dream in life was to get married, have a bunch of kids and be a wife and mother. So, in July, we ran off to get married.
You can't imagine the time we had. First our car broke down - transmission. Got that fixed, finally got to Michigan and applied for our license. That's when we found out we had to wait three days to get married. We just spent all our money on a transmission, we didn't have enough for a hotel, so we came home - unmarried. My parents weren't real happy with me, but since one of my brothers and sisters had eloped, they took it surprisingly well. They knew we were determined to get married, so they agreed to sign the papers and gave us a wedding. Now, I know you all think 17 is too young to get married, and basically it is, but you have to remember it was a different time back then. Girls were just starting to go to college, women worked until they got married and had kids, not many were looking for a career. It was still a time where women stayed home. I had never intended to go to college anyway.
Sixteen months later, my first child, a daughter was born. Twenty-one months later, my second, and so on and so on. Twenty-eight and six children later, we decided that was enough. Needless to say ours was a noisy household. Noisy and fun and lively. And expensive. We chose to send our children to a private school and when my youngest was in Kindergarten, I took a job as an aide to the remedial teachers. It was only two days a week, but the income helped. When my youngest entered first grade, I became the school secretary. I couldn't have asked for a better job. I worked when they were in school, I was home when they were home - well all except for two weeks in the summer. By then my oldest was in high school and I didn't need a sitter, so it worked out well.
I loved that job. Loved the people I worked with and loved the kids. It was an ideal situation all the way around.
One by one my children got married and had their own children. They've blessed me with fourteen grandchildren and now, Glory be to God, a great grandchild. I have three married granddaughters and another getting married in August. Maybe it won't be long before they bless me with more great grandchildren. My youngest grandchild is actually younger than my great grandchild by a couple of months. They'll both be turning two this year.
So there you have it - the story of my life. Amazing how 67 years only fills up a couple paragraphs. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, I also worked as a florist for a craft store, and probably most of you know I'm a writer. I write romance - contemporary, mystery and paranormal. You can find my books across the top of this blog.
You can also check out my website

9 comments:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! So nice to know more about your rewarding life, Roseanne. I envy you your grandchildren. One of my biggest regrets in life is that neither of my daughters has children. Have a wonderful day, that's the beginning of a wonderful year.

Personally, I think anybody who actually raised six kids, lived to tell about it, and can still speak coherently is my hero. Anybody who raised any kids and lived to tell about it and can still speak coherently is a hero! Love!

Hi Roseanne,How nice to learn more about you. Congratulations on your wonderful life--the man of your dreams, lots of kids, grandkids, and the start of another generation. I like the kind of sweet romance you write.

Join me at

About Me

As the second youngest of six children, I always had a vivid imagination and loved to make up stories. I often sat and daydreamed about imaginary characters and lost myself in books and make-believe worlds.
My love of writing began as a teenager, but only recently pursued it seriously. With encouragement from fellow book-club members, NEORWA and my husband, I began writing and submitting my work.
Although Satin Sheets was my first published novel, I have over forty articles and stories published in magazines such as Good Old Days, Nostalgia, and Ohio Writer along with several online publications.
Besides teaching three writing courses for Long Story School of Writing, I taught a writing course at Cuyahoga Community College.
In my spare time, I enjoys spending time with my six children, fourteen grandchildren and great grandchildren. My hobbies include ceramics, knitting, quilting, and jewelry making. But after my family, my first love is writing. I reside with my husband of forty-eight years in Northeast Ohio. You can visit my website at: http://www.roseannedowell.com